29 September 2023

Published September 27, 2023 by rochellewisoff

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PHOTO PROMPT © Jennifer Pendergast

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Genre: Fiction
Word Count: 100

SCHOOL DAYS

Alice chewed her pencil until it looked like it had been attacked by woodpeckers. She groaned. “I detest homework. Why do I have to do it.”

“To learn,” said Jacob. “To develop your brain.”

“My brain’s already worn out from school.” She jutted out her lower lip. “Whose bright idea was this anyway. Homework. Blecch.”

“You could blame the German philosopher, Johann Gottleib Fichte. Or more recently, American politician Horace Mann. After a visit to Prussia, so impressed with their educational system, he brought homework to America.”

“Whoa. How’d you learn all that?”

“Easy.” Jacob shrugged. “I did my homework.”

22 September 2023

Published September 20, 2023 by rochellewisoff

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PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

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Once more my Google journey took to a story I didn’t expect. 😀 I started off with Jewish Austrian immigrant, Leo Hirschfeld the candy maker who named his invention after his daughter Clara “Tootsie” Hirschfeld. There were too many conflicting facts and not enough to write a satisfying story. Happily, the muse took me in a different direction.

Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100

FROZEN CHOSIN

“Tell me the Tootsie Roll in Korea story,” I begged Grandpa as he tucked me in.

With a faraway look in his faded blue eyes, he grinned. “It was 1950. Us Marines was freezing our butts off and losing the battle. We radioed the Air Force for 60mm mortar ammo, codenamed ‘Tootsie Roll.’”

“They sent you real Tootsie Rolls, right, Grandpa?”

“Kept us from starving.” He unwrapped a Tootsie Roll and squished it between his fingers. ‘Warmed, “Tootsie Roll putty’ plugged the holes in our fuel lines long enough for a hundred-and-twenty-thousand of us to make it to safety. Oorah!”

*

15 September 2023

Published September 13, 2023 by rochellewisoff

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PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook

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This weekend is Rosh HaShanah, the beginning of the Jewish New Year. So it seemed the time to remember.

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Word Count: 100

SURVIVAL

Risa kissed her slice of bread before slathering it with butter and taking a bite. She ate slowly, savoring every morsel.

Ten-year-old Aaron’s gaze held her, his brown eyes wide. “Bubbe, why do you kiss your bread like you would kiss a holy book if you had dropped it?”

“Bread is holy and precious. In the camp, a slice of bread could buy a bag of gold. A slice of bread stood between life and death.”

Aaron kissed his toast. “Blessed are You, Adonai our God Who brings forth bread from the earth and saved my dear grandma with it.”

*******

Remembering Food in the Concentration Camps: Interviews with Holocaust Survivors

8 September 2023

Published September 6, 2023 by rochellewisoff

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PHOTO PROMPT © Fleur Lind

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This week has been a busy one which didn’t leave much headspace for writing even one hundred words. So I’m sharing a pared down excert from my WIP “LAST DANCE WITH ANNIE”. I’m in the midst of what we’re hoping is the final round of line edits. My use of the prompt is quite loose. 😉

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Word Count: 100

LOVE AND WAR

Tony studied his friend CPO Marco Sanchez. Marco’s golden-haired fiancée sent him a ‘Dear John’ letter while he dodged VC sniper fire in Vietnam as a medical corpsman. When he came back to the states in 1970, he met and married Carla who succumbed to cancer ten years later, leaving Marco to raise three sons.

“How do you do it?”

“Sense of humor.” Marco shrugged. “Carlita always told me if we divorced, she’d make sure I got custody. Said she’d hire ‘lack-of-character’ witnesses. Prove she was an unfit mother. Guess she got the last laugh.” He grinned. “Lunch at Ruby’s?”

1 September 2023

Published August 30, 2023 by rochellewisoff

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PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson

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Genre: Partly Fiction
Word Count: 100

In 1953 Gasoline (Petrol to our folks in the UK) was 20 cents a gallon. You could mail a letter for 3 cents and go to the movies for 70 cents. And the list goes on. A few influential people were born that year, including Tony Blair, John Malkovich, Mary Steenburgen and Yours Truly. 😉 September 4 is the actual day which I do share with Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs. of Welcome Back Kotter fame.

AGING IS ANOTHER WORD FOR LIVING

“Seventy,” I say, trying to wrap my head around it. “Seventy? Really?”

“Careful,” says Dale with a twinkle in her eye. “A lady never tells her age.”

“Why?”

“Dunno. It’s just a saying, like ‘lightning never strikes twice.’”

I once wrote a flash about swimmer Maurine Kornfeld or “Mighty Mo” who’s still breaking records at one-hundred-and-one.

Last week my ninety-year-old friend Ernie shared his lap lane with me.

“Big plans for your day?” asks Dale.

“Yep. I’m going to start my day by swimming my usual two miles while I ponder what I want to be when I grow up.

*Three years ago I wrote about Mighty Mo. CLICK here to read about this amazing lady.

25 August 2023

Published August 23, 2023 by rochellewisoff

Apologies for the late publication this morning. Apparently I scheduled for PM rather than AM.

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PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

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Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100

THE QUEEN OF GYMNASTICS

With balletic grace and powerful style, thirty-one-year-old Agnes Keleti turned back flips and pirouetted across the mat. The crowd cheered.

“This is for you, Dad,” she whispered under her breath as she raised her arms in victory. “This is what we trained for.”

****

He would’ve been so proud to see his daughter win the gold at the 1952 Olympics and again in 1956. The vicious shark had failed to devour her. She’d survived—not only survived, but prevailed.

“These hundred years feel to me like sixty,” she told reporters on her birthday. “Health is of the essence. I love life.”

Agnes turned 102 in January of this year.

18 August 2023

Published August 16, 2023 by rochellewisoff

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PHOTO PROMPT © Brenda Cox

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Genre: True Confession
Word Count: 100

SQUARE EYES

Binge watching has become one of my guiltiest pleasures. I confess, I’m a streaming junkie. Through the magic of Netflix and other platforms I’ve been around the world without leaving my room.

My favorites are films from Israel, South Korea, and Japan.

I have become adept at reading subtitles for I eschew dubbing, preferring the actual voices and intonations. Not to mention I’ve picked up a few words here and there.

Chalk it up as a learning experience.

You may ask. What else have I learned?

Across the globe, in our hearts, we are more alike than we are different.

11 August 2023

Published August 9, 2023 by rochellewisoff

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Genre: Anecdote
Word Count: 100

HOKEY SMOKE!

One summer I went with a group to Alaska. It took time to get used to the sunlight streaming through our hotel window until 11:00 PM. The weather was incredible. Nothing like the summer heat and humidity in the Midwest.

My friend and I decided to take a stroll through a nearby neighborhood that looked like any other US suburb. Until we came face to face with Bullwinkle.

“Back up slowly,” said Clint. “Don’t let him know you’re afraid.”

“Too late.” I trembled, fascinated by the moose’s stature and enormous antlers. “Something tells me we’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto.”

This is a true story. Although the quotes might not be totally accurate. 😉 If you’re familiar with Rocky and Bullwinkle you might recognize Rocky’s favorite esclamation “Hokey Smoke.”

Rocky and many of the other characters were voiced by voiceover legend June Foray:

4 August 2023

Published August 2, 2023 by rochellewisoff

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Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100

THE WRIGHT WAY

“Do you really think you’re going to fly like a bird?” Fifteen-year-old Katharine giggled as she set steaming bowls of soup on the table.

“Someday you’ll eat those words, Kate,” said nineteen-year-old Orv.

The years zipped by. While her brothers never let go of their dream, Katharine kept their books and managed their bicycle shop. She became their staunchest supporter and spokesperson.

Katharine’s heart fluttered as the Wright brothers’ Model A Flyer left the ground. Who would have dreamt she would see France, let alone soar over it?

“Kate,” Wilbur squeezed her hand. “You are the wind beneath our wings.”

CLICK here to know more about this lesser known Wright sibling.

28 July 2023

Published July 26, 2023 by rochellewisoff

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Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100

A NICE JEWISH GIRL FROM BROOKLYN

“Daddy, listen my new song.” Four-year-old Carol’s blue eyes twinkled.

Firefighter, Sid Klein sank down beside her on the piano bench, weary from extinguishing one blaze after another.

He marveled. “I see Mommy’s making sure you practice your lessons.”

“Far from it.” His wife Genie shook her head. “Our baby girl has a rare gift.”

____________

Nearly seventy years and numerous compositions later, Sid Klein’s daughter, singer- songwriter Carole King thrilled as Aretha Franklin belted out “Natural Woman” at the Kennedy Center Honors.

“I’ve had a remarkable life,” Carole told an interviewer “I sum it all up in one word—gratitude.”